Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Day 10: Small Victories

Without going into too much detail since I don't have anyone's permission to, my sister is struggling with some very serious stuff right now. As a result, my family is struggling with some really hard stuff right now. It becomes easy to become distracted by the feelings that come up, the sudden pangs of sadness, fear, anger, frustration, and even sudden bursts of overwhelming joy as we fight to help my sister.

Lie down on your mat and return to the breath.

In yoga, I'm learning to celebrate small, often fleeting victories. Today, I held the second set of standing bow for almost the entire set. In the pose, I actually feel moments of reaching forward and kicking back at the same time. I feel my legs slowly standing firmer beneath me, moving towards a locked knee. I feel more energetic in class, less like I'm fighting the heat to stay alive, more like my body is actually propelling itself through class. Small, small victories, but they keep me interested.

The most important part, though, is that these victories are often fleeting. I'm fully prepared to return to standing bow tomorrow to find that I can barely kick back or my legs wobble in a very unlamp-post like fashion. But, those too will be fleeting. Everyday, as much as you can, you gotta get back to the mat and return to the breathing.